PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J M Cruse

Publications and source records attributed to J M Cruse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Neuroendocrine-immune interactions associated with loss and restoration of immune system function in spinal cord injury and stroke patients.

Both natural and adaptive immune responses were shown to be strikingly decreased in initial blood samples from 34 spinal cord injury and stroke patients. NK-cell function decreased to 24.8% (mean) 2 weeks after spinal cord injury in previously healthy young adults whose control group revealed a mean NK-cell function of 48.7%. This was accompanied at 2 weeks by increased plasma ACTH (mean of 17.0 pg/ml from 17 patients compared to a mean of 11.2 pg/ml from 12 controls) and urine free cortisol levels (mean of 152.1 micrograms/24 h from 9 patients compared to 53.6 micrograms/24 h from 15 controls). T-cell function and/or activation decreased to below normal values within 3 months after injury as revealed by lymphocyte transformation that was 32.8% of normal at 3 months. T-cell activation diminished as shown by a mean IL-2 receptor level of 179.3 units/ml in patients compared to 328.2 units/ml in controls. Serial monitoring of NK- and T-cell function revealed that specific physical rehabilitation therapy over a period of 6 months after injury restored NK- and T-cell function to near normal levels in most patients. This improvement was accompanied by a parallel rise in the patient's functional independence measurement scores. Results suggest critical neuroendocrine-immune system interactions in the restoration of immune function. Cortisol levels reverted to normal after 6 months of rehabilitation. Limited data suggest that natural immune system depression, NK-cell function, persists in spinal cord injury patients not receiving rehabilitation therapy (mean NK-cell lysis of 10.3%; p < 0.01).

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1991

HLA disease association and protection in HIV infection among African Americans and Caucasians.

In a previous investigation, we demonstrated an increased progression of overt AIDS in the African American population compared to the Caucasian population as reflected by the significantly lower absolute number of CD4+ lymphocytes detected in the African American population in an earlier study. The present study elucidates some of the possible genetic factors which may contribute to disease association or protection against HIV infection. The HLA phenotypes expressed as A, B, C, DR and DQw antigens were revealed by the Amos-modified typing procedure. NIH scoring was utilized to designate positive cells taking up trypan blue. A test of proportion equivalent to the chi 2 approximation was used to compare the disease population (n = 62; 38 African Americans, 24 Caucasians) to race-matched normal heterosexual local controls (323 African Americans, 412 Caucasians). Significant p values were corrected for the number of HLA antigens tested. HLA markers associated with possible protection from infection for African Americans were Cw4 and DRw6, whereas Caucasians expressed none. Disease association markers present in the African American population were A31, B35, Cw6, Cw7, DR5, DR6, DRw11, DRw12, DQw6 and DQw7, whereas in the Caucasian population A28, Aw66, Aw48, Bw65, Bw70, Cw7, DRw10, DRw12, DQw6 and DQw7 were demonstrated. The highest phenotypic frequency for a disease association marker in the study was for HLA-DR5 (62.9%) in the HIV-infected African American population without Kaposi's sarcoma compared to a frequency of 28.9% for the regional control group (p = 0.0012). We conclude that genetic factors do have a role in HIV infection since only 50-60% of those exposed to the AIDS virus will become infected.

Black People↗
PubMed1989

Anti-class II antibody production prolongs renal allograft survival.

It is widely accepted that transfusions are beneficial to the outcome of renal allotransplantation. Whereas some investigators suggested that transfusions may induce both specific and nonspecific suppression of the cell-mediated immune response, others disagree. To lend clarity to this discrepancy, we collected 40 serum samples before and after blood transfusion therapy of first-time cadaveric renal allograft recipients and evaluated each for T cell and B cell cytotoxic antibodies using an Amos modified complement-dependent microlymphocytotoxicity assay. When greater than 10% of the panel cells reacted with a grade 4 or better, the panel was considered significant, and when a lymphocyte specificity was lysed by antibody-rich serum greater than 50% of the time, the antibody was considered specific. Control T and B cell PRA assays employed sera from 27 normal nontransfused volunteers of similar age and sex. Survival distributions of differences in the PRA before and after blood transfusions and posttransfusion PRA levels were compared using the Gehan generalized Wilcoxon test. Other factors which influence allograft survival such as HLA-A, -B and -DR matches, number of blood transfusions, immunosuppressive therapy, age, sex, parity, previous positive crossmatch, circulating cytotoxic antibodies matching the graft, prior dialysis, length of time on the waiting list, lapse of time between transfusion and transplantation and the underlying primary diagnosis were also considered using the Gehan generalized Wilcoxon test or the chi 2 approximation. Transfusion-related B cell cytotoxic antibodies, HLA-DR monospecific or multispecific antibodies and HLA-A, -B matching extended graft survival in a significant manner. Sex influenced the production of B and T cell transfusion-related cytotoxic antibodies with females producing greater quantities of antibodies than males. Parity and the production of monospecific or multispecific antibody were associated with an increase in transfusion-related B cell cytotoxic antibody. A difference in sex was not linked to the production of monospecific or multispecific HLA-DR antibodies. The majority of males failed to respond to multiple blood transfusions with the production of B cell cytotoxic antibodies although more than half were successfully grafted. All females and males who responded with the production of B cell cytotoxic antibodies monospecific or multispecific, with the exception of 1 female, demonstrated an allograft survival of greater than 1 year. In conclusion, differences between pre- and post-transfusion B cell PRAs and monospecific or multispecific HLA-DR antibodies identified in patient sera following transfusions were good predictors of renal allograft survival in both males and females.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Blood Transfusion↗
PubMed1989

Contrasting quantitative alterations in CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes in HIV-infected African Americans compared with the Caucasian population.

Enumeration of circulating T lymphocytes is crucial in the investigation of AIDS and related conditions. The single best measure of disease progression and prognosis is the absolute number of helper/inducer T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood. Although the phenotypic identification of a particular subset reflects no direct information on the function of the population, the information provided by the analysis furnishes new insight regarding racial differences in the immune deficiency associated with AIDS. The severity of the HIV illness in the African American population, as reflected by a decrease in the absolute number of circulating CD4+ lymphocytes, was marked compared to the Caucasian population with AIDS. Consequently, the CD4/CD8 ratio was lower in the African American HIV+ population. A higher level of activated mononuclear lymphocytes and NK cells in this population may indicate active disease. The incidence of life-threatening opportunistic infections such as PCP was greater in the adult/adolescent African Americans compared to Caucasians. In contrast, PGL was found more frequently in the Caucasian participants. Although the rate of HIV infection in the adult/adolescent African American population was not different from population estimates for the area under study, the incidence in the pediatric African American population was twice the population estimates for the race. This increased rate occurred in the parent-at-risk as well as in the hemophiliac group.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1988

Lymphocyte subset T4/T8 ratio in systemic lupus erythematosus: correlation with disease activity, laboratory abnormalities and treatment.

Lymphocyte subsets were studied in forty-nine patients with SLE using monoclonal antibodies and flow cytometry. A decrease in T4+ reactive cells (helper/inducer) was the most frequent observation. Decreased T4/T8 ratios were seen in patients with increasing clinically active disease, patients with positive anti-DS-DNA, positive anti-RNP antibodies and patients with low CH50 activity. However, low T4/T8 ratios were seen in patients with negative anti-Sm. Low T4/T8 ratios were also observed in patients taking prednisone at more than 10 mg/day and in patients treated with immunosuppressive drugs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Constrictive structural elements in human cerebral arteries following aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Histoimmunological, histochemical, and histological studies were conducted on cerebral arteries from four living patients with a recent aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage. There appeared to be a correlation between the severity of vasospasm and the magnitude of pathological findings. Large myofibroblast cells and type V collagen within the medial layer were abundant in arteries showing marked vasospasm, but were less conspicuous in those showing milder involvement. Intracranial arteries from patients who died from non-cerebral causes did not demonstrate these changes. In ruptured vessels, there was also a positive fluorescence for actin-myosin filaments in layers of the arterial wall other than the media. It is postulated that the intimal and adventitial actin-myosin, myofibroblasts and type V collagen may contribute to cerebral vasospasm by holding the damaged vessel in a contracted phase during the healing period.

Adult↗